It is the Mission of the Nebraska Family Forum (NFF) to promote education policies in our state that preserve and protect parental authority and the integrity of the family. In so doing, we will preserve the cooperative and respectful relationship between school authorities and parents, preserve a family-centered community, and provide a well-rounded education for our kids.

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Saturday, July 20, 2013

ABUSE OF TRUANCY LAW, AND ABUSE OF NEBRASKA FAMILIES, CONTINUES THROUGHOUT THE STATE

Another
day, another abuse of Nebraska’s “truancy” law--the law that isn’t about
truancy at all.

On June 19, the sheriff showed up at the Maynard home in Sidney,
Nebraska.Lucas Maynard, age 12, was
commanded to appear in court on July 18.The charges against him read as follows:

“Lucas Maynard is a juvenile who:is habitually truant from home or school and
deports himself in a manner so as to injure or seriously endanger the morals or
health of himself or others.”

Lucas’
parents, Darla and Dennis Maynard were stunned.Lucas had been ill several times during the school year, but his mother
had communicated with the school every time and had given the school doctor’s
notes whenever it had been necessary to take her son in for medical
attention.In addition, Lucas missed two
days during inclement weather.The
Maynards live 16 miles from the school, Creek Valley Middle School in
Lodgepole, Nebraska, and twice during the winter, the roads were impassable.

According
to school district policy, an absence is considered unexcused if it is without
parental and administrative permission.This means all of Lucas’s 22 absences should have been excused (Mrs.
Maynard is in the process of verifying that the school documented these
absences correctly.)Lucas kept up on
his homework and his grades are good.

One of the documents attached to the summons was a letter from the principal, Katherine Urbanek, to the county attorney. In the letter, Ms. Urbanek specifically states that she is referring the
Maynards to the county attorney because it's the "obligation of state law.”She then proceeded to explain that Lucas's absences were legitimate, he was conscientious about making up his work after being absent, he had maintained good grades and was passing all classes. The principal specifically states, "In my professional opinion, Lucas's days of absence have not had a negative effect on his academic success." Since the principal herself clearly states that Lucas's absences were legitimate, her assertion that she is obligated to report him to the county attorney is incorrect.The 2012 amendment to the “truancy” law
specifically states that schools are not required to turn children in to the
county attorney if all absences are excused.

The
law also states that “one or more meetings between a school attendance officer,
school social worker or the school principal or a member of the school
administrative staff, the child's parent or guardian, and the child” must be conducted to attempt to solve the problem of “excessive
absenteeism.”According to Mr. and Mrs.
Maynard, Creek Valley Middle School never conducted this required meeting, and
they were taken completely by surprise.

On
July 18, the Maynards appeared in court where they were dismayed when their
12-year-old child was separated from them and compelled to sit in the front of
the courtroom between the prosecutor and the guardian ad litem assigned to his
false truancy case.A bad situation got
even worse when the judge read the charges against this innocent little boy and
informed him that one of the consequences of his absences from school could be
removal from his parents’ custody.

Mrs.
Maynard described her son at that moment as “shrinking into his chair, white as
a ghost.He was terrified.”

Since
the guardian ad litem did not meet with the Maynards prior to the hearing, the
judge continued the false truancy case until August 14.The Maynards have four weeks to hire an
attorney and prepare a defense for their young, frightened child, whose only
“crime” was being ill.He is not a gang
member, a drug user or a shoplifter.He
is not a minor in possession of alcohol or a vandal.He does not "deport himself in a manner so as to injure or seriously endanger the morals or health of himself or others." He is merely a young child whose mother kept him
home from school when he was sick, like good parents do.Treating him like a criminal is a stunning
abuse of power.

I am
sick and tired of hearing these stories!Remember Gov. Heineman’s assurance that Nebraskans would use “good old
common sense” when enforcing this law?That’s not happening.It’s not
happening in Douglas County, it’s not happening in Lancaster County, and it’s
not happening way out in Deuel County in the panhandle of our state.As long as this law is used to abuse,
terrorize, and tear apart children and families, the NFF will continue exposing
that abuse and fighting to repeal this outrageous government assault on our families once and
for all.

22 comments:

This makes my blood boil, and scares the heck out of me! Who do these people think they are? Do lawmakers and judges and all those involved in this situation not realize how wrong it is to pass laws which put good, law-abiding families in this situation? This is not what freedom looks like, and good intentions don't make up for one bit of the horror the legal system - enabled by the legislature - is wreaking in the lives of good people.

Brenda - Thank you so much for you tireless efforts to protect families and children in our state. Your hard work, persistence and dedication are much appreciated by this mom.

I am so weary of listening to all the stakeholders point fingers at each other, rather than listening to the true stories of individual children and families abused by this harmful law. When complaints are brought to the attention of those in power, they reassure us that they care deeply for our children and explain that any absences from school are detrimental to our children's well being. There is no acceptable reason to miss school. Not for illness, bad weather, family issues....parents are told to comply with the expectations of all the professionals. Professionals who believe that they know best. In fact, they know better than you!

How is it that parents are even allowed to leave the hospital with their newborn babies? Shouldn't a Judge, guardian ad litem, social worker, early educational professional, caseworker, family advocate and county attorney be appointed for each family? After all, everyday citizens need all of these "services"....right? This system has been created to enrich all of the assorted stakeholders by allowing them to access an endless pipeline of children they can save. While collecting a generous salary and benefits...all paid for with your TAX dollars. VOTE out every politician who supports this crazy law!!!!

Under the statutory definition in Nebraska of what constitutes child abuse, the school administrators, county employees (prosecutor and GAL), and the judge in this and similar cases are guilty of inflicting emotional trauma. They should be reported to the Hotline. In addition, this child and his family should sue for slander and defamation for falsely defining Lucas as a criminal verbally on the record and in print.

Under the statutory definition in Nebraska of what constitutes child abuse, the school administrators, county employees (prosecutor and GAL), and the judge in this and similar cases are guilty of inflicting emotional trauma. They should be reported to the Hotline. In addition, this child and his family should sue for slander and defamation for falsely defining Lucas as a criminal verbally on the record and in print.

Wow as the mother of a teen girl, I have had a similar situation in Sidney and potter school districts. If more parents would keep their sick children home less illnesses would be spread. My heart goes out to the parents and child involved in this post. My daughter has faced some of the worst bullying in both districts from both the students and the staff. I have made the decision to send my child to another state to finish out her high school experience. I prey that enough people will stand up for the injustices being done here in Nebraska.

Hi Anonymous, if you would like to meet Brenda Vosik and me tomorrow in Sidney to share your own story, meet others who want to fight back against this law in your area, and learn more about how to do that, contact Darla Maynard or email me at: info@FamilyAdvocacyMovement.com.

We are coming to Sidney tomorrow (Tuesday, July 30) and will be meeting with anyone interested - 3:00 pm at the library in the Virginia Smith Room.

Bring any documentation you may have whether you have already been or have not yet been to court. Even if your family has not been directly affected, but you are concerned about your friends, family and neighbors, you are welcome to join.

And this is part of why I send my kids to school.in Colorado... and I live a couple blocks from the local school, but after being threatened with referral to the county attorney for truancy, increasing bullying at school, and seeing a quote by the editor of Penthouse magazine on a bulletin board about success, we pulled the plug. It seems like Nebraska schools are taking a real nose dive. They are focusing on the wrong things altogether.

A sure sign of a bad law is when the law doesn't solve the problems it was intended to fix while. A terrible law fails to fix the problem and then at the creates even worse ones. Victimizing innocent children and their families is far worse than missing the truant of 30+ days. Our American value of justice is based on the fundamental idea that it is better for one guilty person to go free than for even one innocent person to suffer under the law unjustly. We MUST live this value even more when we are dealing with little children.

Anonymous, there was already a law in place to deal with students who were really truant. If the schools weren't following that law or the county attorney wasn't doing his job, that's another issue. Instead of fixing that problem, our legislature passed a sweeping law that has caught up children with serious illnesses such as cancer and meningitis, children attending funerals, and children pursuing elite academic and athletic opportunities. The current law is terrorizing good families into sending their children to school sick.

Just so you know, this law has nothing to do with truancy as defined by the dictionary and in case law. In fact, the word truancy doesn't appear in the law. It was crossed out and replaced with the word "excessive absenteeism." You may be surprised to hear that any changes in actual truancy are not even being measured. As the Commissioner of Education, Roger Breed, told me, "I was mandated by the legislature to increase attendance, not decrease truancy."

Really I feel for these people they did the same for my daughter but the court paper was from 2012-2014 really for 2 years and instead of helping they asked for her to be in the system. building a case againt us and her excused . also just found out the the computer at school has a glitch. what called me to say she was tartdy when I called back ohh we fixed that. bs I say .

Time to get out the laptops and write, write, write! When are people going to realize that this is all about money? It's not about criminality (that's what the police are for) and it's not about education (that's what teachers are for) and it is in no way about guiding our children (that's what parents are for) and it must stop. It's about money, money, money: putting little bottoms in seats. Only with bottoms in seats do schools get their cash, so you tell me, where is a schools' incentive to NOT rat out these children whose parents care enough about them to not send them to those seats sick, to run them over slippery roads, to throw caution to the wind so that a school can garner 15 minutes of attendance time.

This system is sick. But the County cannot be the bad guy entirely, when the money says otherwise. The school misses out on their cut, and they pass it on. The guardians and attorneys are all clocking time, and the money flows, like ca-ca, straight downhill. How long will we allow our children and their families to simply wash down onto this littered midden of unfortunates? People whose illness or families or lives will not allow them a minty fresh 365-day-a-year attendance, people who got sick, had weather, had bad luck, had life, people who were not the little cash-making machines they were expected to be?

I left. I filed my homeschool papers and was done. Not everyone has this luxury. Not everyone wants to make this decision to opt out. But for everyone who wants in, who still trusts the state to educate and care for their children, you deserve to do so with dignity, without harassment and persecution. I am disgusted. Again.

Time to get out those laptops and write, write, write to anyone who has a hand in this horrendous excuse for education.

Well said, Anonymous! You hit the nail on the head! This law is indeed about money. An entire industry has been built around our children, a/k/a "little cash-making machines." Lots of new government jobs have been created to enforce Nebraska's (non)truancy law. Prosecutors, guardians ad litem, school social workers, attendance monitors...they all get a piece of the pie. And that pie is OUR tax dollars. We are paying these people out of our own pockets to abuse us and terrorize us into sending our children to school when they need to be home.

The more children that are funneled into this system, the more money can be made by the enforcement industry.

These are OUR children and I am sick of them being used for the profit of others. These are OUR schools and I am sick of them being used as a branch of law enforcement.

Parents, it is PAST TIME to rise up and say NO MORE! It is past time to remind our public officials that THEY work for us, not vice versa! It is PAST TIME to reclaim our children and our schools as our own!

Thank you for this Sonny because I am also in trouble with this stupid truancy law. We did 6 months with region 6 behavioral health because of 40+ missed days due to gi problems that the school was notified at the beginning of the school year. The school choose not to help with gi problem. Instead they choose to serve us with truancy papers and court hearings. She fell so far behind that she could not catch up so I ended up pulling her out of school and started home schooling her. I had to go a lot of hoops just to get my teaching liscense and have the board of edu accept everything. Still home schooling for eighth grade. I love you sis for sticking with me through all of the tough stuff. And mom I love you to for helping me as much as you can.

dgis68135 - If you haven't already, you can private message Brenda Vosik or me to share more of your story and details of your situation. The more family testimonies we have, the stronger we will be in repealing this law.

Dgls68135 - I am very interested in talking to you, not only about your child's "truancy" charges, but about your homeschooling experience. I would very much like to know who told you that you needed a teaching license and were required to consult with your school board in order to homeschool. Please e-mail me at NebraskaFamilyForum@gmail.com. Thank you.

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The Personal Impact of Nebraska's School Attendance Law

We began collecting stories in April of 2011 and will continue to collect them as long as the law is abused. The stories we have collected demonstrate how our community has been impacted by Nebraska's school attendance law that counts all absences rather than "unexcused" absences for purposed of "truancy".

It may seem by the district by district breakdown that the law has impacted Millard Public Schools the most, but it is important to note that the Nebraska Family Forum grew out of the Millard Parent Society and therefore the awareness within Millard Public Schools is longstanding.

Out of the 3000+ cases referred to the Douglas County Attorney last year only 400 came from MPS. For every story collected here it is reasonable to assume that they represent dozens more who are affected who have not written their thoughts in a public way.

The Facebook Effect

Nebraska Family Forum: What we Stand For

Mission:

It is the Mission of the Nebraska Family Forum (NFF) to promote education policies in our state that preserve and protect parental authority and the integrity of the family. In so doing, we will preserve the cooperative and respectful relationship between school authorities and parents, preserve a family-centered community, and provide a well-rounded education for our kids.

NFF Guiding Principles:

Family is Key: We believe the family is the single most important element to a child’s ability to learn and be successful in school and life, and parents are the foundation upon which family success rests. For this reason, it’s imperative that the state honor the authority of parents as they exercise their natural rights, obligations, and responsibilities to raise, manage, direct, and educate their children.

Freedom in Education is essential: We believe that flexibility in education, school choice, stimulating curriculum, quality teachers, and innovative education reforms are essential to a family centered education. We support policies that will lead to greater parental influence in education innovation, curriculum, and choice.

Family struggles are a healthy part of life: We believe that the fundamental right of a parent does not cease to exist simply because a parent may fail to be a model parent. Parents often struggle to meet the needs of their children, but this is not in itself sufficient cause for unwanted and unwarranted government intrusion into family life. We join with Father Steven Boes of Boys Town in "proclaiming that not only are there no bad boys, as Father Flanagan taught, but there are no bad families.” There is always at least one person in a family that wants what is best for their children and is willing to ask for and receive the help they need.

Government Intrusion can be Harmful: We believe that the right of parents to raise their children without undue government interference is a fundamental liberty that has long been protected by the Constitution of the United States and is not void upon the enrollment of ones child in a public school. We warn that governments who seek to micro-manage the everyday choices of parents in pursuit prescribed outcomes, will do great harm to the integrity of the family and by extension, the well-being of children and society as a whole.

Mother… I think of all the lessons she has modeled for me throughout my life in topics from boys to academia to love in and of family to the meaning of true success… now I heed her lessons in balancing my life, work and passions. All the while, she is my teacher, one with the honored and sacred name of Mother.

Who ran to help me when I fell, And would some pretty story tell, Or kiss the place to make it well? My mother.

The Simple Truths

Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves. ~ Ernest Dimnet

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. ~ Oscar Wilde

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. ~ William Butler Yeats

Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. ~ B. F. Skinner

Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading. ~ G. M. Trevelyan

Every educated person is a future enemy. ~ Martin Bormann

I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly. ~ Michel de Montaigne

In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards. ~ Mark Twain

It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense. ~ Robert Green Ingersoll

Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. ~ John W. Gardner

No man who worships education has got the best out of education... Without a gentle contempt for education no man's education is complete. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

Real education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing, the rest is mere sheep-herding. ~ Ezra Pound

The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. ~ Robert M. Hutchins

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. ~ Albert Einstein

To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks. ~ A. A. Milne

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. ~ Albert Einstein

The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next. ~ Abraham Lincoln

My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors. ~aya Angelou

Dad kept us out of school, but school comes and goes. Family is forever.

I hated school. Even to this day, when I see a school bus it's just depressing to me. The poor little kids. ~ Dolly Parton

True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters. ~George Herbert

Dad kept us out of school, but school comes and goes. Family is forever.

"The amount of freedom to which a person is entitled is strictly measured by the amount of freedom he is willing to allow his fellow man." ~ Verlan Andersen

"You complain of bad city government. It is ultimately the fault of the people themselves if it is bad... In no way can you bring about decency in your Government so quickly as by backing up the men (and women) who represent your interests, rewarding those who are faithful and punishing those who fail in their duty." ~ Theodore Roosevelt